Evaluating Participatory Monitoring in mountainous tourist regions

Jazmin Campos Zeballos ^1* Jefferson Valencia ² Fabia Codalli ³ Fabian Mitze ¹ Frank Shagega ^3,4 Björn Weeser ^1,3 Suzanne Jacobs ^1,3

• ¹ Center for international Development and Environmental Research, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
• ² Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT (Colombia), Cali, Cauca, Colombia
• ³ IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
• ⁴ Water Resources Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, PO Box 35131, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania., Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

In light view of the considerable influence impact of climate change on water resources, it is crucial to promptly address the limited availability of consistent and reliable hydrometeorological data to facilitate enable timely decision-making. HydroCrowd employsis employing a a participatory monitoring methodology approach to collect meteorological and hydrological data in vulnerable mountainous tourist areas. This paper presents an analysis of the both non-frequent and regular volunteers who participatedparticipate in the project, examinesexamining the motivation behind their participation, and evaluatesevaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the project's approach to data collection. The stations, the smartphone application, and data collection process received, in general, a positive responsethe process to collect data were well received. However, the lack of reliable internet connection in some regions hinders the observation upload process, which in turn hinders the participation of volunteers. The results demonstrateddemonstratedsuggest that such projects cannot solely rely on non-frequent volunteers, such as tourists. that cCommunities and local stakeholders are instrumental in ensuring the continuous collection of data in a timely manner for projects of this nature.